Through Thick And Through Thin

Chapter Thirty-Two

Katie felt nausea sweep over her body as Thomas pulled off his shirt and started on his pants. He was sitting on top of her legs, and she felt them start to go numb from all of the weight that was being put on them. Luckily, she was still fully clothed, although the dress she was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. Thomas's eyes met hers, and she watched in fear as he smiled slyly and moved his hands over her hips, feeling them.
"You are a pretty one," he murmured as he slid his hands down the sides of her legs. Katie wished she could slap him, but the gun was on the night stand right next to him, and she knew that he would have it in his hands before the blink of an eye. And she could forget about using it; Thomas had moved the night stand so it was out of her reach as long as she was lying on the bed. She shut her eyes angrily and turned her head, only to receive a stinging slap on the cheek. "Look at me," he commanded.
Katie glared into his eyes as he ran his hands up the sides of her torso and onto her chest, feeling her breasts. She literally had to bite her tongue to keep from yelling furiously at him.
Just then there was a loud bang as the door slammed open and hit the wall. Thomas's head snapped up, and his eyes widened in slight fear. Katie looked over and felt incredible relief for the second time that night when she saw her brother. "Kevvy!" she shouted.
Kevin's eyes narrowed as he stepped bravely forward. "You want to get the hell off of my little sister?" he asked courteously, flexing his muscles and making Thomas's mouth hang open.
"This is your sister?" Thomas asked, playing dumb. "Wow, I didn't know that, I--"
He was cut off as Kevin clocked him in the jaw. "A.J.! I found Katie!" Kevin yelled at the top of his lungs before he grabbed Thomas by the collar of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall. "Where's Linsey?" he demanded.
"W-With Carlos," Thomas squeaked.
As she sat up on the bed and heard the fear in Thomas's voice, Katie couldn't help but feel a touch of satisfaction.
The feeling died as A.J. ran into the room. His eyes settled on Kevin and Thomas, and then on Katie, and he ran over to her and put an arm around her.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked with concern.
Katie stood up so that he wasn't touching any more. "I'm fine. He shot the ceiling, not me."
A.J. looked like he was going to say something else but was interrupted as Kevin started to slap Thomas across the face.
"And where is Carlos?" Kevin was asking.
"I don't know! Downstairs, probably, but I don't know where exactly!" Thomas said quickly.
A.J. saw the gun, and he grabbed it and brought it over to Kevin, who smiled wryly and took it. Thomas's eyes widened.
"Don't kill me, please! It wasn't my idea, it was his! I just helped, I didn't mean to..."
He trailed off as Kevin brought the butt of the gun down hard on his head. Thomas slumped to the floor unconscious, and Kevin pocketed the gun before running over to his sister.
"Sweets, are you okay?"
Katie nodded quickly, not wanting any sympathy. Kevin wrapped an arm around her. "You sure?"
"Yeah." She broke away and looked him in the eye. "We've gotta find Linz."

* * *

Carlos's head snapped up when he heard Thomas being slammed against the wall above him. He glanced nervously at Linz's unconscious form on the bed in the corner of the room. If Kevin found her like this, he was as good as dead. Carlos bit his lip. He hadn't wanted to use chloroform on her, but she had been struggling too much, and he didn't want to make any noise. Carlos shook his head, thinking of what Thomas had done. The gunshot had definitely been a bad idea, even if it did intimidate Katie. If they got caught for this, it would certainly be Thomas's fault. Not that he thought they would get caught.
Carlos heard the yelling from upstairs and knew that he had a limited amount of time before Kevin, A.J., and Katie found him. He quickly scooped Linz's lifeless body up in his arms and slipped down the hall and out the back door.

* * *

"Maybe we should split up again," Kevin was saying to A.J. "I'll take one side, and you and Katie can--"
"Hey, guys!" Katie interrupted, running over to the window. "Look at this!" She opened the window and leaned out of it, pointing at something.
They both ran over to her and looked. Carlos, carrying Linz in his arms, was running out the back door and into the alley.
"She's unconscious! That mother fucker--" Kevin was cut off as Katie and A.J. each grabbed one of his arms and started to pull him downstairs. They soon found the back door and ran outside where he had been. No sign of him now.
"Great job, guys, now we don't know where the hell he went!" Kevin snapped, glaring at them.
"I'm pretty sure he went that way," Katie said, pointing to the left.
"All right, well, you and A.J. check that way just in case," Kevin commanded, pointing to the right.
Katie's eyebrows shot up, and she glanced contemptuously at A.J. "Kevin, I'm not going with him! I'll come with you," she decided.
Kevin shook his head. "Please just do this, Katie. For Linsey," he begged.
Katie saw the tears of fear and worry in his eyes and sighed. "All right. Come on, A.J." She reluctantly went over to him. "We'll yell if we find them!" she told Kevin as they started off in their direction.
"Katie, I--" A.J. immediately began to say when they were alone.
"Don't. We have to find Linz," Katie said, looking somberly at him.
He sighed. "All right."
Both of them started to yell Linz's name as they hurried down the narrow alley, checking the alleys that fed into it as well.
"This is pointless," Katie said after a minute or so. "He went the other way, I know it. We're wasting time, and Kevin is all by himself over there."
A.J. shook his head. "We can't give up, Katie. We have to keep looking," he said obstinately.
If only he'd had this much determination about quitting smoking, she thought wryly. "All right," she consented. "Linz?! Linsey?!" she continued to shout.
Little did she know, they were closer to Linz--and Carlos--than they thought.